1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a display device in which a cover for a head-up display/a pop-up display is opened and closed.
2. Description of the Related Art
There has conventionally been available a display device which is put in an automobile dashboard and which operates such that the image of information necessary for a driver and so on is projected on a combiner raised up through an opening.
In the display device described above, a cover to cover up the opening which is provided for allowing the combiner to rise up is required in order to prevent foreign substances or dust from getting inside the display device when the combiner is retracted for storage.
In the display device described above, however, since the cover to cover up the opening is composed of one piece, a large space must be provided for lodging the cover for allowing the combiner to rise up, thus increasing the depth dimension of the device. Specifically, when the cover to cover up the opening is composed of one piece, a sliding distance for retracting the cover is large, thus increasing the dimension of a drive structure (the length of a rack). At the same time, the length of the storage for the cover is also increased, and therefore the depth dimension of the whole device is increased, which results in that the device fails to appropriately fit in the automobile dashboard. Specifically, for example, it can happen that the display device invades into a space allocated for other instruments.
In order to overcome the problem of the display device described above, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2002-331855 discloses a display device in which a cover to cover up an opening is divided into two sections (lids).
The display device described therein is structured such that while one end of the lid is raised above a dashboard, the other end of the lid travels along guide grooves over the opening toward the back of a vehicle, whereby the two lids of the cover covering up the opening are folded up for retraction at a side of the opening thus clearing the opening, and the opening covered up by the lids of the cover is opened completely.
In the display device described above in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2002-331855, since the lid protrudes above the device when the opening is opened, a space for accommodating the lids must be provided above the device. Also, it can happen that when the opening is opened, the lids of the cover interrupt the vision of the driver depending on the driver's posture.